Benjamin Arrington, a Democratic candidate for Monroe County prosecutor, sent a complaint to Indiana University against the College Democrats at Indiana University after claiming the student organization hosted his opponent without providing him the same opportunity.
Arrington will challenge incumbent Erika Oliphant in the Democratic primary election. College Democrats at IU hosted Oliphant for a “fireside chat” and Q&A on March 24.
In an email to the Indiana Daily Student, Arrington’s campaign manager Kevin Goodman alleged Arrington's campaign requested comparable speaking engagements with the student organization twice after Oliphant’s event, asking for a side-by-side opportunity for Arrington to share his views.
Goodman alleged that chapter leadership denied Arrington’s requests and “immediately after shutting our campaign out of the room, they issued a formal endorsement of the incumbent.”
Goodman claimed the endorsement was not a “democratic decision” and that student representatives had reached out to convey their disappointment and express that the endorsement was made without broader discussion.
In an emailed statement to the Indiana Daily Student, College Democrats at IU said members of the Arrington campaign attended the start of an April 7 meeting they were invited to, gave remarks, passed out campaign materials and were “welcome to stay” for the rest of the meeting but chose not to.
The campaign emailed IU’s Office of the Vice President for University Relations detailing its concerns and expressing its grievances via email to the College Democrats of Indiana, which oversees all chapters in the state. In the email to College Democrats of Indiana, Goodman asked the organization to suspend the IU chapter’s endorsement of Oliphant and require it to host Arrington before the primary election.
Goodman alleged Oliphant “used this taxpayer funded platform to actively solicit campaign canvassers and volunteers.”
In an audio recording of the meeting reviewed by the IDS, Oliphant briefly mentioned she brought cards for anyone interested in seeing campaign literature and a sign-up sheet for those interested in canvassing.
Goodman’s email also claimed the exclusion was a violation of an IU policy that says if student organizations use university funding to pay for an event, they must invite all legally qualified candidates to participate. The policy goes on to say that political fundraising on university property is prohibited.
College Democrats at IU wrote it does not accept university funding and said it will cooperate with any university investigation. The organization said it invited Oliphant to speak on criminal justice policy and free speech at IU, not her campaign, and did not believe her talk would constitute active campaigning.
The Arrington campaign wrote it was “ashamed that he was denied equal opportunity as a Black man.”
“While we make no claim of racism, it hurts to see the playing field tilted so artificially against a candidate who has had to fight for every single opportunity he has earned,” Arrington’s campaign wrote.
In an email to the IDS, Oliphant expressed Arrington’s complaint was “unfounded” and said College Democrats at IU exercised its right to free political speech.
College Democrats at IU said they were disappointed that the Arrington campaign “would take their complaint to the public” after attending and campaigning at a previous meeting without first reaching out to come to an understanding.
An IU spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
Indiana’s primary election will take place May 5 and early voting is already open.
